The art of massage has long been used to relieve various muscle, tendon and other connective tissue ailments. The kneading of muscles, for example, imparts a modification to the muscle tissue that acts beneficially on the nerves, the muscles being controlled by the nerves in both their movement and nourishment, health of the muscle tissue due to improved blood circulation, and effusion of waste material from the muscle and connective tissues. Accordingly, numerous devices are known in the art for massaging muscles or other tissues. A number of patents of interest in this regard include, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,868,689, 6,093,159, 6,146,343, 6,241,696, and 7,156,817, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Tight muscles are a common condition particularly among athletes and other active persons. Tight muscles can be caused by a variety of factors including overuse, in which small micro tears form in the muscles and cause the muscles to tighten. Poor stretching routines, particularly after physical training, may lead to muscle tightness since a muscle may adaptively shorten if it is not regularly stretched to its natural length. Bad posture can also lead to muscle tightness since improper positioning of the head or other body part may increase the work required by the muscles that support the body part.
A “trigger point” is a common type of connective tissue injury which may be caused by conditions including but not limited to long periods of sitting, repetition of movement, poor biomechanics, myofacia accumulation, electrolyte depletion, salt deficiency, or general muscle over-use. A trigger point is a discrete knot or tight, ropy band of muscle that forms when a muscle fails to relax. The knot often can be felt under the skin and may twitch involuntarily when touched. This is known as a “jump sign”. Trigger points can trap or irritate nerves surrounding the affected tissue and cause referred pain-pain which originates in one part of the body and is felt in another (such as pain from a heart attack that is felt in the jaw or arm). Scar tissue, loss of range of motion and muscle weakness may occur over time as a result of a trigger point.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a message device which is particularly effective in relieving pain and discomfort associated with trigger points as well as other muscle or connective tissue ailments. More particularly, it would be desirable to have a massage device such as a massage ball which has massage zones of various densities to enable a user to control the level and intensity of massage, which mirrors the hardness and deformation characteristics of the flesh on the human thumb or palm, and is capable of hands-free use by an individual.